GASGAS Factory Racing made history at the weekend in international motocross racing, taking their maiden race and overall event win thanks to Standing Construct’s Glenn Coldenhoff.
Racing at the Motorsportpark Gelderland Midden, venue for the Dutch International, a 2-1 result gave the Dutchman overall victory first time out on the new GASGAS Factory Racing MC 450F. Team-mate Ivo Monticelli earned a strong seventh-place moto two finish while in the MX2 division Simon Langenfelder turned heads as he raced to a first moto fifth place, for seventh overall.
In his first competitive outing since round two of the FIM Motocross World Championship, Glenn Coldenhoff lined up on home soil for the Dutch International onboard the new GASGAS Factory Racing MC 450F machine.
A strong start in race one enabled Coldenhoff to shadow race leader Romain Febvre for the duration of the moto, making a charge for the lead as the race neared its conclusion. The 29-year-old was able to pull to within one second of the race lead, ultimately ending the moto in a strong second place.
Moto two saw history made with Coldenhoff giving GASGAS its maiden international motocross race win. Charging to the moto two holeshot, a small mistake on the opening lap relegated Coldenhoff to second position before he formed part of a four-rider battle for the win. Able to take control of the race at the halfway stage and withstand pressure from many of his MXGP rivals, Coldenhoff took the race victory and with it the overall win.
Monticelli underwent shoulder surgery in April and after just four weeks on his bike lined up for the Dutch International. Race one was quickly over as a crash and subsequent bike damage forced the Italian out of the moto. Moving into seventh place on lap seven of the second race, Monticelli displayed impeccable fitness and challenged for sixth place in the closing stages of the 30-minute race.
Langenfelder delivered a heroic ride in the opening MX2 moto at the Dutch International. After the first-lap chaos settled down, Langenfelder went to work, passing no fewer than 14 riders to move into fifth position as the race wound down. With just four laps remaining and despite a sizeable margin to reach fourth place, the young German was relentless in his efforts, closing the 20 second gap down to just seven seconds by race end.
After a strong opening moto, Langenfelder emerged in fifth place from the first corner and then settled into a comfortable rhythm. Over the course of the 30-minute moto the 16-year-old battled his MX2 rivals to cross the line in 10th place, claiming seventh place overall.
“It felt great to be back racing. I’ve worked really hard and put in a lot of time training and riding and it showed today,” said Coldenhoff.
“Ahead of this weekend, I picked up a small foot injury and I was unable to ride for five days but it’s fully healed and I’m 100%.
“Qualifying was good, third place. My reaction on the start wasn’t great in race one and I had to push hard to move forwards. I was riding a little tense as I’ve not raced for such a long time so second place was a great way to return to racing. In race two I pulled a huge holeshot.
“I then made a little mistake and dropped back to second. I was able to regain the lead at the halfway point and then it was a charge to the end, we were all pushing so hard for the win and I’m really happy to have taken the race and overall win for myself and the team.”
This was good preparation ahead of the riders returning to the MXGP World Championships when it resumes on August 9.
Photo courtesy GASGAS
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Results – 2020 Dutch International
MX1 – Overall
- Glenn Coldenhoff (GASGAS) 47pts; 2. Romain Febvre (Kawasaki) 47; 3. Gautier Paulin (Yamaha) 38.
MX1 – Race 1
- Romain Febvre (Kawasaki) 19 laps, 33:12:079; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (GASGAS) 33:14:977; 3. Jeremy Seewer (Yamaha) 33:24:310
MX1 – Race 2
- Glenn Coldenhoff (GASGAS) 19 laps, 33:27:549; 2. Romain Febvre (Kawasaki) 33:29:131; 3. Gautier Paulin (Yamaha) 33:296:23.
MX2 – Overall
- Jago Geerts (Yamaha) 50pts; 2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Husqvarna) 37; 3. Roan Van De Moosdijk (Kawasaki) 36.
MX2 – Race 1
- Jago Geerts (Yamaha) 18 laps, 31:50:993; 2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Husqvarna) 31:52:600; 3. Jed Beaton (Husqvarna) 32:00:031.
MX2 – Race 2
- Jago Geerts (Yamaha) 19 laps, 33:09:002; 2. Ben Watson (Yamaha) 33:09:818; 3. Thibault Benistant (Yamaha) 33:29:039.